Denmark's 'kingmaker' could decide who will lead its next government after inconclusive election

Mar 25, 2026 · 859 words · By ABC News; KOSTYA MANENKOV Associated Press; STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press; JAMES BROOKS Associated Press

Denmark's parliamentary elections resulted in no clear majority, leading to potential coalition negotiations. The center-left Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen may form a government with the centrist Moderate party's support, while the U.S.-Greenland tensions influenced political strategies. Election expert Rune Stubager predicts a centrist government will emerge.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/denmarks-kingmaker-decide-lead-gover…

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Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkFact-Check Results

12 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

help Insufficient Evidence 4

info Single Source 3

check_circle Corroborated 2

schedule Pending 2

verified Verified By Reference 1

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“Denmark’s foreign minister and his centrist party are expected to decide who will lead the Scandinavian country’s next government after Tuesday’s parliamentary elections ended without a clear majority for any party or bloc”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results report that the foreign minister and his centrist party are expected to decide the leadership of the next government following the inconclusive parliamentary elections.

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web search NEUTRAL — COPENHAGEN,Denmark—Denmark'sforeignministerandhiscentristpartyare expected todecidewho will lead the Scandinavian country'snextgovernmentafterTuesday's parliamentary ...
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-03-25/denmar…

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web search NEUTRAL — COPENHAGEN,Denmark--Denmark'sforeignministerandhiscentristpartyare expected todecidewho will lead the Scandinavian country'snextgovernmentafterTuesday's parliamentary elections ended without a clear m…
https://abcnews.com/International/wireStory/denmarks-kingmak…

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web search NEUTRAL — Denmark'sforeignministerandhiscentristpartyare expected todecidewho will lead the Scandinavian country'snextgovernmentafterTuesday's parliamentary elections ended without a ...
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/denmarks-kingmaker-could…

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“Center-left Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen could survive for a third term, despite a disappointing result. But she will need to negotiate a deal with the kingmaker, Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, if she is to lead a new coalition”

CORROBORATED

Web search results indicate that Mette Frederiksen is in a position to form a government, and that negotiations are taking place, implying the need for deals with key figures like the Foreign Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Second cabinet of Mette Frederiksen, colloquially known as the SVM government (Danish: SVM-regeringen), is the current government of Denmark, which took office on 15 December 2022. It succeeded th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederiksen_II_Cabinet

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Prime Minister of Denmark is the head of government of the Kingdom of Denmark and leader of the Cabinet. The Prime Minister is formally appointed by the Monarch, who is head of state. The first fo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heads_of_government_of…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mette Frederiksen (Danish: [ˈmetə ˈfʁeðˀəʁeksn̩] ; born 19 November 1977) is a Danish politician who has served as the prime minister of Denmark since 2019 and the Leader of the Social Democrats sinc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mette_Frederiksen

+ 3 more evidence sources

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“The outgoing government resigned Wednesday. Leaders from each party debated their positions in a roundtable setting and are expected to later meet with Danish King Frederik X to discuss the country’s future”

SINGLE SOURCE

The web search results mention the outgoing PM acknowledging attempts to form a coalition, but they do not confirm that the outgoing government officially resigned on a specific day (Wednesday) or that the subsequent meetings with King Frederik X occurred as described.

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web search NEUTRAL — Followingtwo weeks of negotiations, Helle Thorning-Schmidt was finally able to announce thatthethree parties had agreed on agovernmentprogramme ...
https://balticworlds.com/after-the-election/

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web search NEUTRAL — Speaking at DRspost-electionparty leader debate,the(outgoing?) PM seemed to acknowledge his attempts to form a cross-aisle coalition had hit a ...
https://www.thelocal.dk/20190605/live-denmark-awaits-results…

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“Denmark’s single-chamber parliament, the Folketing, is elected for a four-year term. Lawmakers from Denmark hold 175 of its seats, while two each go to representatives from thinly populated Greenland and the kingdom’s other semiautonomous territory, the Faroe Islands”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia entries confirm the structure of the Folketing, stating that 175 members are elected in Denmark proper, and two members each are elected for Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Constitutional Act of the Realm of Denmark (Danish: Danmarks Riges Grundlov), also known as the Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply the Constitution (Danish: Grundloven, Faroes…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Denmark

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Danish Realm, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply Denmark, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united by the Constitutional Act, which applies to th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_Realm

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — General elections were held in the Kingdom of Denmark on 18 June 2015 to elect the 179 members of the Folketing. 175 members were elected in the Denmark proper, two in the Faroe Islands and two in Gre…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Danish_general_election

+ 1 more evidence source

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“More than 4.3 million people were eligible to vote in a country of 6 million people. Nearly 84% of the electorate cast their ballots”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found regarding the specific number of eligible voters (4.3 million) or the turnout percentage (84%) for the election.

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“Official results showed that Frederiksen’s center-left Social Democrats lost ground compared with the last election in 2022, as did her two partners in the outgoing government”

SINGLE SOURCE

A cross-reference source states that Mette Frederiksen's Social Democrats lost ground compared to the 2022 election, but no other independent sources corroborate this specific claim of loss of support.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Social Democrats (Danish: Socialdemokratiet [soˈɕɛˀlte̝moˌkʰʁɑˀtɪət], lit. 'The Social Democracy', S) is a social democratic political party in Denmark. A member of the Party of European Socialist…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Democrats_(Denmark)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Social Democrats (Irish: Na Daonlathaithe Sóisialta) are a social democratic political party in Ireland. Led by Holly Cairns since March 2023, the party was launched on 15 July 2015 by three indep…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Democrats_(Ireland)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — General elections were held in Denmark on 24 March 2026. All 179 seats in the Folketing were up for election, including 175 in Denmark proper, 2 in Greenland, and 2 in the Faroe Islands (the three ent…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Danish_general_election

+ 1 more evidence source

info

“No single party won a majority in parliament, which was expected. Denmark’s system of proportional representation typically produces coalition governments, traditionally made up of several parties from either the 'red bloc' on the left or the 'blue bloc' on the right, after weeks of negotiations”

SINGLE SOURCE

No evidence was found to confirm that no single party won a majority, or that the system *typically* produces coalitions, although the context of the election suggests this outcome.

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“Frederiksen’s outgoing administration was the first in decades to straddle the left-right divide, and she said she is ready to stay on as prime minister for a third term. Her Social Democrats remained the biggest single party by some distance but Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, the best-placed center-right challenger to Frederiksen, made clear that he and his Liberal party don’t intend to go into government with the Social Democrats again”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found to confirm the specific details regarding the Social Democrats remaining the largest party or the stated refusal of the center-right Liberal party to join a coalition.

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“Løkke Rasmussen is now in the role of kingmaker. His centrist Moderate party, with 14 lawmakers in the 179-seat parliament, is in a position to determine whether Frederiksen can serve a third term at the helm of the European Union and NATO country. It takes 90 seats to form a majority”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found to confirm that the Moderate Party requires 90 seats to form a majority, or that the parliament has 179 seats.

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“Part of the Moderates' success can be attributed to Trump and Greenland, Stubager said. Late last year, the party was polling poorly, but then got a major bump from Løkke Rasmussen, the government’s foreign minister, through his diplomatic work to calm the tensions with the U.S. that included a headline-grabbing trip to Washington”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found to confirm that Lars Løkke Rasmussen's diplomatic efforts with the U.S. specifically improved the Moderate Party's poll numbers.

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“Frederiksen also was banking on Greenland. Her own polls earlier this year showed an increase in support, prompting her to call the election in February — several months before she had to. She apparently hoped that her resolute image in the standoff would help her with voters”

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“Trump backed down on threats to impose tariffs on Denmark and other European countries that opposed the U.S. taking control of the vast Arctic island, and the U.S., Denmark and Greenland started technical talks on an Arctic security deal. The discussions are ongoing”

PENDING

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.

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Denmark's 'kingmaker' could decide who will lead its next government after inconclusive election

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